


Sending Her Off

by Kaile (rcs)



Category: Ragnarok Online
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-07
Updated: 2011-04-07
Packaged: 2017-10-17 17:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/179207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcs/pseuds/Kaile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>bawwwwwwwwww</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sending Her Off

There's about fifteen minutes before the ceremony is due to start, and appropriately Kanan was ready fifteen minutes ago and is now reduced to fussing with the skirt of her wedding gown, heavy and voluminous, and trying not to mess up the carefully pinned mass of her hair. The girl in the mirror in front of her looks pale except for what, in her paleness, is obviously makeup, and for a moment she forgets to breathe at the _realness_ that hits her as she looks at the gown. She's getting _married._ In half an hour, she will be Achishar's wife.

It's a terrifying thought-- not marrying him, she's fine with that, but the implications: she's an adult. She assumes they won't be living on Guild land anymore-- just them, in a place of their own. She'll miss the people she's come to think of as parents. She'll have to be strong enough to support Achishar when he needs it, and vice-versa. She's not sure she can prepare for that sort of thing, but she has to try. She loves him, has loved him since she was old enough to look at him Like That, and this is the endgoal of years of patience. So why is she so nervous?

So nervous that she nearly trips over her own skirt turning around as the door opens, only managing to recover when Balthasar slips through the door, careful to shut it quietly behind him. There's a moment where they both freeze, an understanding between the two of them as they both take stock of one another, and then she throws on a smile, genuinely happy to see him-- but a little sad for reasons she can't articulate. He's serious as he looks at her. "Ready, kiddo?"

"Is that a trick question?" But instead of the joke she meant it as, she can tell he's worried. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm... ready as I think I will ever be."

"You look pale. You feeling okay?" His hand is large and rough, but gentle on her forehead. "Y'don't feel warm..."

"No, no, I'm fine. I promise. I'm just... nervous."

A moment of understanding. "Ah. Yeah, I bet." There was an awkward pause. "Listen, Kanan. Not ill-wishin' or anything, but. If that boy... tries anything, or makes you cry, or does anything to hurt you, you just let me know. I'll take care of it."

She can't help looking at him with some perplexity. "Tries anything? Who, Ach?"

Balth flusters before fidgeting. "Nevermind. Just tell me if he hurts you in any way."

She gives him a look, and shakes her head. "I'll be sure to do that." She won't-- an adult's job is to handle their own problems--, but he'll be happier thinking she will.

"Good." Another long silence. "Kanan, you upset that your Paw isn't here? Most girls'd want their father at their side for this type'a thing."

Gray eyes narrow at him slightly, thinking. "I haven't seen or heard from him since I was eight. I don't particularly care if he's here. He wouldn't be the one walking me down the aisle anyway." Her tone suggests disinterest in the idea at all, not the bitterness he'd have expected.

"He wouldn't? But he's your Paw."

"No," Kanan corrects primly. "He's my father. More accurately, he's the man who fathered me. He wasn't around-- hasn't even bothered to be. So those rights aren't his. They're yours."

"What, since Miru's a... lady?" There's a few questions to ask in that pause, but Kanan isn't going to be the one asking them.

There's a pause of 'you're joking, right', and then a fond sigh. This is so much like Balthasar that Kanan can't help shaking her head, dislodging a few small flowers from the headdress she's wearing and sending her waves of chestnut hair shifting. When she looks up at him, there's something in her expression that drives home the fact that she's not the shy little girl he'd initially met, who'd latched to his leg and hid behind him as the other kids played, and let him brush her hair and braid it when she got caught on things, and who'd run to him when she scraped her elbow or knee and refuse to stop fretting until he picked her up and worked his Balthasar Magic. The girl who used to kick the boys for talking back to him, and who he'd had to push forward to get her to attempt to speak to the gentlest kid he could think of. She's been replaced with the woman marrying that kid he'd pushed her toward, with someone who was maybe a little impulsive but who had outgrown that shyness to make her a mostly calm woman. She's grown up, and his heart pangs at the realization.

"Balth," she begins tentatively, not wanting to make him faint or anything. "You're the closest thing to a father I ever got. The only person I'd let walk me down this aisle'd be you. Otherwise, I'd rather walk alone."

There is a long, long pause, and when he speaks again-- picking up the little flowers from her feet--, his voice is rough, slightly choked. "You're a good kid, Kanan. I'm honored." Pause. "A-Anyway. It's... almost time. Let's get you out there." She catches the mist in his eyes, and says nothing as he settles the flowers back in her hair. They don't need to go into it much further. But before he folds her veil over her eyes, he leans down, kissing her forehead. "Don't be scared, kiddo. If I had to choose for you, I couldn't think of a better one."

It isn't clear, whether he means father figure or husband. She supposes it doesn't matter.


End file.
